


In Search of a Dream

by mdelpin



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Family, Feelings Realization, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Loss of Parent(s), M/M, Slayers Week 2020, ftguildevents
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:07:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25117363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mdelpin/pseuds/mdelpin
Summary: Gray had always been disappointed that Natsu wouldn't invite him along on his searches for Igneel. When it looks like he has given up, Gray decides to take matters into his own hands.
Relationships: Natsu Dragneel/Gray Fullbuster
Comments: 6
Kudos: 33
Collections: FuckYeahGratsu Requests, Slayers Week 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Slayers Week 2020  
> Prompt: Home / Children
> 
> Want to talk with me about Fairy Tail, other animes, writing, or my stories? Click on the link to join our discord [The Unholy Trinity](https://discord.gg/SeB7uyK8Rm)!

When Natsu and Gray had been children, they’d both been survivors of great personal tragedies that everyone wanted them to forget, but neither one could let go of. 

Natsu had lost his dragon in a way that could never give him peace. He’d woken up one day in a strange field with not even the barest traces of Igneel’s scent around him. It had left Natsu heartbroken and full of questions that he could never find the answers to. Things like where had Igneel gone? And why had he left him behind? 

It was made worse because, despite his strange magic, he knew that no one believed his words. After all, why would they? There had been no dragon sightings in hundreds of years. To most people, they were nothing but the stuff of legend. Or something a little boy would dream up to explain why his father had abandoned him. 

Natsu tried not to let this get to him. After all, he had gained a new home in the Fairy Tail guild. Had even found several men who cared for him as a father would, showering him with the affection he so desperately craved. 

Makarov tried to instill values in him, Macao helped him control and train his magic, while Gildarts did his best to get him to lighten up while nurturing his fighting spirit. All three men put in an effort to ensure he grew up right. Or, as right as any kid could in the middle of a boisterous magic guild. Natsu appreciated their efforts, he loved his new family and used his considerable power to keep them safe from anyone who would try to hurt them. 

But they weren’t Igneel. 

Gray’s childhood had been more tragic than he’d ever let on to even his closest friends. He’d watched helplessly as his parents were destroyed by a demon, one that he could never hope to best, but that hadn’t kept him from trying. A suicidal feat that had only managed to destroy the new family he’d found and left him feeling responsible for even more death. He was full of rage for what he’d lost and devastated by the knowledge that everyone he’d loved had sacrificed their lives to give him his. 

He wasn’t worth their sacrifice. 

He knew that, just like he knew the only way to keep it from ever happening again was to not allow himself to get close to anyone. Gray was determined to live his life in isolation, but somehow he’d ended up at Fairy Tail instead. He wasn’t the first child to arrive, nor would he be the last, but it wasn’t long before he had to grudgingly accept that the guild and all of its members had become his new home. 

Gray liked most things about it. The people were loud, often drunk, and he could hide in their midst most of the time until his annoying stripping habit would rear its ugly head, bringing everyone’s attention to him with a chorused but fond cry of, “Gray, clothes!” 

He trained to get stronger, well aware that there were monsters out there far exceeding the power of human imagination but real just the same. 

This is why when the pink-haired loudmouth showed up with Gramps crying to anyone who would listen that he’d been raised by a red dragon, Gray accepted it as truth. 

If a dark mage could create demons, why couldn’t dragons exist? Seemed logical to him, but he could tell that no one else believed, and he could also see how much this upset Natsu. It didn’t sit well with him, that sadness in the other boy’s eyes. Probably because it reminded him of his own. 

Gray wasn’t sure when the fighting between them had started. One day they had been getting along reasonably well. The next, they were at each other’s throats, but he didn’t question it. They had been getting too close anyway, and that was dangerous for him. 

And fighting with Natsu was fun. Sure, he couldn’t put insults together to save his life, but that suited Gray just fine, it was something else he could taunt the dragonslayer about. What he lacked in wordplay, he more than made up for in fighting ability and stamina, and that was exhilarating. 

Day after day, year after year, they trained and fought together, neither really wondering why it was they did this. Who cared when it was so much fun? 

Gray enjoyed the odd relationship they had built over the years, and as complicated as it seemed to everyone else, it made perfect sense to him. He didn’t hate Natsu as everyone assumed, he respected him, and he was a little jealous in some ways. 

His family was gone forever, but Natsu still had a shot at finding his, and Gray figured the dragonslayer was just about stubborn enough to pull it off. 

He would often daydream about the two of them returning from one of Natsu’s searches riding atop the enormous dragon. The Fire Dragon Slayer would be sporting that shit-eating grin of his that more often than not Gray wanted to punch out of existence, while he would bask in the knowledge that out of all of them he’d been the only one to believe Natsu’s tales. 

It was a pleasant daydream but one that would likely never come true. Natsu never took him along when he went looking for Igneel. When they were younger, Gray had followed him a few times, worried that his friend would get lost or forget to return, but Natsu had always sniffed him out and asked him to return to the guild, and Gray had done so, filled with a disappointment he couldn’t understand. 

Time after time, Gray would watch Natsu return from these trips looking more and more dejected with every failure, and he wanted to say something to him, to tell him that he was sure that he’d find him someday. But all he could offer that Natsu would accept were petty insults and brawls. And he hated it. 

The last time Natsu had gone on one of these trips, he’d returned with a celestial mage in tow, a girl named Lucy Heartfilia. Since then, Natsu hadn’t made any effort to find Igneel, which pissed Gray off more than he thought it would. 

In the years since he’d met the pink-headed pain in the ass, Gray had never seen him give up or back down from a fight. Not once. He knew how important finding Igneel was to Natsu, and he refused to see him give up. At least not unless he had a reason to. 

So he decided to go on his own journey, determined to find something to get his friend all fired up again, ignoring the voice in his head that tried to tell him that if Natsu hadn’t found Igneel yet, _he_ had a less than zero chance of doing so. 

To that voice, Gray replied the one truth he knew better than any other…. 

Natsu might be a great fighter and possess almost beastly instincts, but at his core, he was a flame-brained idiot. 

Gray would find Igneel, and when he did, he would bring Natsu back to the home he’d been searching for for so long. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gray goes off in search of Igneel. After several months of chasing leads that get him nowhere, he happens upon a girl who claims she’s seen a dragon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like many others, I’m not a huge fan of the Daphne arc, so I figured while I was messing with canon (yes, I know it’s anime only), I might as well change this up a bit.

Gray figured the best way to start his search was to go to the place where Natsu had been found by Gramps all those years ago. Taking advantage of the fact that the dragon slayer had left on a job with Lucy and Happy, Gray had cornered the guild master and plied him with drinks. 

He hadn’t missed the curious way Gramps had stared at him once he’d understood what Gray wanted, his brow furrowing as he tried to figure out what Gray was up to and how it tied into his never-ending rivalry with Natsu. Eventually, he recounted everything he remembered and even marked the spot on a map. 

Having acquired all the information he needed, Gray decided to leave the next morning. It had been a while since he’d gone off on his own, and he was looking forward to it — the promise of a new adventure exciting him as it always did. 

It took him three days of walking to find the forest Gramps had marked on the map. He examined his surroundings, but nothing really caught his attention, it looked like any number of forests he’d visited over the years. Gray explored as much of it as he could, trying to find anything that could be considered a clue to how Natsu had ended up there by himself so many years earlier. 

He decided to camp for the night, carefully lighting a fire to cook his food. He found himself staring into the flames, his thoughts straying to Natsu. What must it have felt like for him to find himself here all alone? Had he been scared? 

Gramps had mentioned that Natsu had refused to leave this spot, determined that Igneel would return at any moment, even though by his own admission, the dragon slayer had already been waiting for weeks. 

He couldn’t help but be glad that the old man had worked his usual magic, convincing the stubborn boy to give guild life a chance. Gray didn’t even want to imagine how different his life would have been if Natsu hadn’t been a part of Fairy Tail, how different _he_ would be if the annoying fire-breather hadn’t been there to challenge him at every opportunity. 

Gray thought that was part of what his need to find Igneel was, Natsu had done so much for him over the years, and he’d never been able to repay him in any way that mattered. 

He put out the fire, encasing himself in a dome of ice for protection while he slept. In the morning, he got ready to leave. On a whim, he used his ice to lift himself up in the air and look around, hoping to find something that maybe Gramps had missed, but there was nothing but trees everywhere he looked. 

Disappointed that the forest had been a bust, he decided to walk to the next town to see if anyone remembered anything from when Natsu had been found or had heard about any dragons in the area. 

He traveled to town after town, visiting libraries, searching official records, and talking to anyone he could find, following any lead that came his way regardless of how insignificant it seemed. But no matter how much he searched or how hard he tried, everything turned out to be a dead-end, or easily explained away. 

Gray was beginning to understand Natsu’s frustration. Everywhere he went, he was ridiculed for his questions. It had only been a few months since he’d started his journey, but the constant disappointment was already getting to him. 

Maybe the real question wasn’t whether Natsu should give up or not, but rather how he’d been able to continue his search for so long. More than ever, Gray wanted to find Igneel for his friend, but he was running out of ideas, and there hadn’t been a lead to follow in days. 

He was currently in the city of Malba, eating lunch at a local cafe and considering his options. He wanted to keep going, but the truth was that he was almost out of jewels. He’d have to go home soon. 

He also hadn’t exactly told anyone what he was doing or where he was going. Knowing Fairy Tail, they’d be sending out a search party soon, and he could just imagine who would be on it. As much as he wanted to see Natsu again, he was determined to have something to tell him first. Anything that would bring that fire back into Natsu’s eyes. 

Frustrated by his lack of progress, he decided to walk around and explore the city for a while. The idea of giving up didn’t sit well with him, but Gray didn’t know what else to do. He was surprised to find a magic shop tucked away in an area of the city that had clearly seen better days. 

Gray had never really been to a magic shop before. He was a caster mage, and from what he’d understood, these places mostly sold magical items. With nothing better to do and welcoming a distraction, he decided to enter. If nothing else, maybe he could find Natsu a present for his birthday, which was coming up in about two weeks. 

As he’d suspected, there were a lot of charms and magic potions, devices that could change your clothes or hair color, but outside of some prime prank material for Natsu, there wasn’t really much there to hold his interest. 

Until he came across an area of the shop that seemed to thrum with magical energy. Figuring he had nothing to lose, he pushed the curtains aside and walked through. This room was much more interesting. Even though it was dimly lit, Gray could feel the power emanating from some of the objects encased in the display cases. The man who stood behind the counter nodded at him as he entered, but he was already deep in conversation with a woman. 

Gray continued to explore the small room, fascinated by the displays. The case he was currently examining contained many trinkets - rings and lockets, masks that seemed to pulsate with dark energy - as well as different items that purported to be from mythical creatures. A feather from a phoenix, a horn from a unicorn, a stinger from the tail of a manticore, and many others that Gray had never even heard of. 

“Daphne, we’ve been through this before, I can’t buy that from you,” the shopkeeper’s voice was laced with irritation, but he seemed to be trying to keep it in check. 

“But it’s a dragon scale!” Daphne protested, “It must have some value. They were one of the strongest magical creatures, weren’t they?” 

“There hasn’t been a confirmed dragon sighting in hundreds of years, I’m sorry for what happened to your city, but I can’t just buy an item I know is fake.” 

“But I’ve seen it with my own eyes!” 

“You saw a dragon?” Gray interrupted, excited by the prospect of another lead, “When was this?” 

“Yes, yes, yes!” Daphne turned to him, her eyes alive with excitement, “It was-” 

“No, she didn’t,” the shopkeeper interrupted, “If you’re looking for magical items, I’m sure I can help you find something here that will suit your needs.” 

Gray ignored him in favor of examining the woman. She looked to be about his age, with medium length black hair and big brown eyes that hid behind glasses. He couldn’t sense any magic power coming from her, but more importantly, he didn’t get the sense that she was lying. 

“Can I see the scale?” 

Daphne handed it to him, and Gray could barely contain his excitement. It was a large white scale that looked and felt incredibly similar to those that made up Natsu’s scarf. 

“It was red at first,” she informed him, “but it lost all it’s coloring soon after.” 

Gray could hear the shopkeeper muttering behind them and made a quick decision. “Can you take me to where you found this?” 

” Yeah, sure.” 

0-0 

They left the magic store behind, then the city, walking towards the field where Daphne claimed to have seen a dragon in the sky some years earlier. Along the way she told Gray a story that he had trouble believing, but made more sense than anything else he’d heard during the last few months. 

Daphne claimed she had been playing by herself in the field when she’d heard a loud noise coming from above. Surprised, she’d looked up only to see a large creature flying overhead. It had seemed ghostly, but she’d had no trouble identifying it as a dragon nonetheless. 

The extraordinary thing was that she claimed that the dragon seemed to be trying to ram into something. Its terrifying roars rang louder with every failed attempt until suddenly it just disappeared from sight. She’d found several scales in the grass and had grabbed them to show her family, but when she’d arrived home, everyone in the city had disappeared. Well, everyone with magic anyway, Daphne had none. 

She’d run to the next town to ask for help, but they hadn’t believed her. Everyone she’d told had made fun of her, calling her crazy and suggesting that maybe everyone in the city had left to get away from _her_. 

Regardless, no one could explain what had happened to the people in her city, and soon it was nicknamed the City Without Sound. People would come to explore it, fascinated by the idea of a ghost town in modern times. Daphne had been left with nothing but the dragon scales, surviving on the jewels she got from selling items she found in the empty houses. 

“Are you sure this is where you saw it?” Gray asked, not sensing anything out of the ordinary about the field. 

“Of course, I’m sure!” Daphne snapped, “Do you really think I’d forget after what happened?” 

“Right, sorry,” Gray excused himself, then he had a thought. “Do you remember what date it was?” 

“July 7th of 778,” Daphne replied, peering at him curiously, “Why does it matter?” 

Gray startled at the date, it couldn’t possibly be a coincidence, could it? Natsu had been abandoned on that same day a year earlier. He held the dragon scale in his hand and stared at it. It had to mean something, it just had to. 

“I have a friend who was raised by a dragon. He was abandoned on that same day in 777, he’s been looking for his dragon ever since,” Gray admitted, handing the scale back. “I’m trying to help him find it.” 

“I’ve seen it more than once,” Daphne suddenly admitted. 

“What?! Why didn’t you say so before?” 

“People already think I’m crazy,” Daphne shrugged, lying down on the grass and staring up at the clouds. “The first year after it happened, I came back here every day, but I never saw anything. When July 7th came around again, I was determined the dragon would show up. I managed to convince a few people to come so I could prove I wasn’t crazy, but when it didn’t show, things got worse for me. But I knew I would see it again, and I was right. The following year I heard the same sound and looked up to see the dragon once again. Everything was the same as before.” 

“I raced home, hoping that everyone had returned, but - uhm, they were still gone,” Daphne’s pained chuckle tore at Gray’s heart. 

He felt a strange kinship with this girl, he’d lost everyone in the blink of an eye as too, and it had been horrible, but at least he’d known what had happened. Whatever took place here on that day had caused her to lose everyone without any explanation, which had to be worse. Still, there was something about what she had said that nagged at him. 

And that’s when it hit him, she’d said everyone in the village had had magic, except for her. That was unusual. In general, only about ten percent of people on Earthland had magic. 

“Take me to your village,” Gray demanded, determined that there had to be something there that would have caused this to happen. 

Daphne considered him for a moment and then got up, shaking off the dirt from her clothes, “What is it you expect to find?” 

“I don’t know yet,” Gray admitted, “but I get the feeling I’ll recognize it when I see it.” 

“Do you think you can help me get them back?” The hope in her eyes made him pause, he didn’t want to make things worse for her if there was nothing he could do, but he could feel it in his bones. He was on to something. 

0-0 

He was right. 

Even before reaching the city entrance, he could feel it. There was an enormous concentration of ethernano in the air surrounding them, more than what could be considered normal. His magic was buzzing inside him, begging to be let out. 

“Daphne, do you think I could have one of those scales to show my friend?” 

“I have no idea what’s going on, but you believed me when no one else did, and for that, you may have one with my thanks,” she handed him one of the scales. She looked down at the floor, her voice quivering as she asked, “Do you think they’ll ever come back?” 

He didn’t want to give her any false hope, but he knew that if there was one person who knew a lot about dragons, it was Natsu Dragneel, and when they both set their minds to something, nothing ever stood in their way. 

The dragon had first been sighted in 778, and Daphne had said that it returned every other year, which meant that if she was telling the truth - and Gray was convinced that she was - it was scheduled to return in a little over a week’s time. 

And when it did, he and Natsu would be waiting. 

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I’ve always wanted to write a story where Gray helps Natsu look for Igneel. Was I planning on starting it today? Nope. Did I do it anyway? Yep. Are my other WIP’s looking at me with judgy eyes? Absolutely.


End file.
